Mingo was the sixth overall selection of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played his college ball at LSU. Mingo joined LSU after just two years of high school football in Louisiana. He earned All-Freshman SEC honors in a redshirt freshman season. He fought for starting time in a crowded LSU defensive line but had eight sacks in his sophomore season. Mingo finished his college career with 15.0 sacks in three seasons to go with 29.0 tackles for loss.

The 27-year-old absolutely shined at the 2013 NFL Combine. He posted a 4.58-second 40-yard dash, the second fastest among listed defensive linemen at the Combine. Mingo also excited scouts with 37-inch vertical jump, 128-inch broad jump and a 6.84 three-cone drill. This helped boost him up the draft charts.

While Mingo played defensive end in a 4-3 scheme at LSU, he moved to the outside linebacker position with the Cleveland Browns. This seemed to work well for his tall, lean build (6’4″, 241 pounds at the Combine). Yet, Mingo never really found success.

Mingo managed to start three games in his rookie season. He was available for 15 of the 16 games. At the end of the year, he had tallied 5.0 sacks and 42 total tackles (29 solo and 13 assists). This was the best season in his five years in the league. While he did manage to start 11 games in his second year, the numbers dropped.

In 2014, Mingo had 42 total tackles (26 solo and 16 assists) to go with 2.0 sacks and one fumble recovery. In 2015, he did manage his only career interception but failed to register a single sack. Additionally, his tackle numbers dropped and he only started two games.

2015 turned out to be Mingo’s final season in Cleveland. The Browns traded the former first-rounder to the New England Patriots for a 2016 fifth-round draft pick. Mingo started a single game for the Patriots and only registered four solo tackles. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts in the 2017 off-season. In 2017, he started six games for the Colts and registered 44 tackles (32 solo and 12 assists) as well as 2.0 sacks.